Montana gas prices slowly decreasing

BILLINGS (AP) -- Gas prices are continuing to slowly trickle down.

The automotive group AAA reports the national average for regular unleaded is $3.69 a gallon, down 42 cents from the all-time record of $4.11 a gallon set last month.

In Montana, gas prices have fallen 25 cents from the all-time high of $4.20 a gallon.

Drivers in Billings and Missoula are paying an average of $3.91 a gallon, while motorists in Great Falls are paying 3 cents less, at $3.88 a gallon.

Woman sentenced for Medicaid theft

GREAT FALLS (AP) -- A 54-year-old Browning woman has been sentenced to 16 months in prison and ordered to pay nearly $48,000 in restitution for embezzling money from the Blackfeet Care Center.

Judy L. Racine pleaded guilty in May to theft from a local government receiving federal funds and to theft from a health care facility. She was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon.

Racine was the business office director for the Blackfeet Care Center, which received $725,350 in Medicaid funds from January 2007 to November 2007.

According to court documents, Racine deposited Medicaid checks into the center's banking account and got cash back for herself.

Prosecutors said she also wrote several Blackfeet Care Center checks to herself and used the center's debit card to withdraw money from ATMs and to pay for personal items and vacations.

Final stretch of 4-lane U.S. Hwy 2 to open

STANLEY, N.D. (AP) -- The final leg of a four-lane U.S. Highway 2 between Williston and Minot, N.D., is opening.

The state Transportation Department says the 29-mile stretch from east of Stanley to east of Berthold is to open Monday.

With the opening, all of U.S. 2 in North Dakota will be a four-lane highway except for the 12 miles from Williston to the Montana line.

Man pleads guilty in copper thefts

MISSOULA (AP) -- A 28-year-old Hungry Horse man has pleaded guilty to federal charges for his role in a series of copper thefts from power substations in the Flathead Valley.

Bobby Matney pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to destroy or damage property of an energy facility. He faces up to five years in prison when U.S. Magistrate Jeremiah Lynch sentences him on Dec. 19.

Prosecutors say between October 2007 and March 24, 2008, Matney, his ex-wife, Terra Matney, and her brother, Anthony Conner, were involved in a conspiracy to steal copper wire from substations and sell it to a recycling center.

Court records say the removal of the copper grounding wire placed energy facility workers at greater risk of electrocution and nearly caused failure of the energy grid in northwestern Montana.

Terra Matney and Conner have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.

No big prizes in Saturday drawings

Here are the results of the Saturday, Aug. 23, 2008, Montana Lottery drawings:

JACKPOTS WON: None

MAJOR PRIZES WON IN MONTANA: None

ESTIMATED JACKPOTS FOR NEXT DRAWINGS

Montana Cash: $30,000

Wild Card: $220,000

Hot Lotto: $3,870,000

Powerball: $62,000,000

The winning numbers drawn:

Montana Cash: 02, 03, 21, 22, 29

Wild Card: 08, 14, 18, 20, 25. Wild Card Queen of Clubs.

Hot Lotto: 10, 15, 16, 22, 38. Hot Ball 18. Hot Lotto Sizzler Three

Powerball: 18, 24, 33, 47, 48. Powerball 23 Power Play 03.